I'm so excited. This morning, while sipping coffee and catching up on emails (in bed, under the covers, with Mira snuggled beside me...hey, it was COLD outside), the DHL guy brought me a little something special: my order from Rancho Gordo!! I'm not sure what scared the DHL guy most—my thrilled, yelp-like exclamation or my very bad case of bed head (or maybe it was the puffy eyes). Either way, he left me, commentless, with my box of goodies to dive into. And dive, I did!

What is Rancho Gordo, you ask? Well, only THE most talked about grower of the finest heirloom beans ON THIS PLANET! I've been reading about his products (I think he's a he) on several of my favorite food blogs (his blog is also one of my favorites because it is clear he has fun with food...another reason I thought it would be good to try his products) and have been meaning to order some for a while now. I'm not sure what was holding me back, other than the fact that I've never really cooked much with dry beans and therefore didn't have an urgent need to try them. But then I thought, heck, I love to cook, I love food, and I love trying new things, so why not? Besides, his beans have been getting such rave reviews, I had to see what all the hype was about.

So my order came today and included these beans:

Ojo de Cabra (Goat's Eye)
Runner Cannellini
Flageolet
Borlotti
Scarlet Runner





I also ordered, just for kicks and giggles, their Crimson Popping Corn (most people know how much I love popcorn) and their New Mexican Red Chili Powder.

The beans are so lovely you almost don't want to eat them but rather make some sort of lasting art from them. And I just love their logo: who can resist the image of a retro woman licking her lips. Not me (and I'm straight!). I'm sure there's an interesting story behind the logo/icon but I haven't found it yet.

Anyway, I plan on making a batch (or two) of these wonderful beans this week...and I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, keep on humming what I've been humming all morning: beans, beans the musical fruit...